Monthly Menu Planning

At the beginning of each month, I sit down and plan what a lot of people don't like to do.  I plan what I'm going to cook for the month.  It may seem like a lot of work, and I'll admit sometimes I don't want to do it.  However, the rewards that planning a menu gives me far out ways the occasional lack of enthusiasm.  The biggest reward is that I save money.   The next reward is that I know what's going to be cooked or is cooking ( I love crock pots), and it keeps me from eating out.  This post has nothing to do with why I love my little house, but it does have to do with my fetish of saving money.  I hear a lot of people saying that eating healthy is too expensive and that if you don't spend $300-$500 a month for groceries, you're not getting healthy food.  I'll be the first to tell you that I once thought that. That's when I started to challenge myself to eat better and become a better wife/mom/teacher.  That's also when I started to challenge myself to make a grocery trip for less than $120....for the ENTIRE month.  While I don't always get out of the store for that amount; I do leave most months for less than $170!!  It can be done and I do it without coupons.  I don't like coupons at all.  I probably use two a year.  Thus, the menu planning.  I know exactly what we're going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.  We don't eat a lot of processed food; it's quite the opposite.  I love fresh foods.  The three of us eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  It can still be done!  Although this month's menu isn't the best menu we've had (I don't usually eat hot dogs), you can get an idea of how I plan and what we do to stay on a budget.
A lot of my meals are things that we know we all love, like the pizza or spaghetti.  Quite of few meals are from one of my favorite websites SkinnyMs or their Facebook page.  I made an entire month's worth of slow cooker meals in February!  It was a blast, and I was happy every night when I got home, because I didn't cook and it was a breeze to clean up.  I couldn't have asked for anything more.    One more benefit...my husband and daughter loved them all!

Below is the menu.  You'll see that some of the days only have the meat part written, but rest assured we have a large salad and veggies of some sort with it.  The only additional thing you need to know is that whatever we have for dinner the night before is what we eat for lunch the next day.  That way, there's no waste.  Because I had to buy household stuff this month, I spent $175 on our grocery bill.  Enjoy!  There's no wrong way to go about menu planning.  Just know what you're going to use the groceries for and don't buy what you don't need.


March Menu

Paint...it's not what you think!

Have you ever bought something that you absolutely love, only to find that a couple of months or years later, it's out of style?  I usually like to buy decorative things for my house that most would consider timeless.  However, there are times that I just like something and really want it.  What I don't want is to buy something else to take it's place in a couple of months just to make it match trends.  Through the years, I've played with painting things that I've bought.  My favorite way to paint is spray paint!  There are so many amazing techniques that you can do with spray paint.  I've used so many different types of spray paint to change 100s of things around our house!  I seriously come by this painting thing honestly.  My dad is a world-class auto painter (his cars have won many awards).  The guy's a magician with his spray gun.  My aunt also loves to paint...with spray paint!  I can remember  my dad painting some metal folding chairs for my aunt's house because she needed some colorful dining room chairs.  They were gorgeous and everyone else wanted some! As you can tell, I come from a long line of painters!

On to my painting! I starting laughing to myself when I began thinking about this week's topic. I mean, you can find something in every part of my house that's been a "victim" of my spray painting obsession. If you look hard enough, you will find spray starting at my driveway and continuing through my entire yard. Some of the things I've painted might surprise you! Why keep you waiting? Let's see some pictures of my latest adventures!

Painting a light fixture is an old trick!  I loved this one, but it was white which was very boring, so I painted it black.  I'm thinking about painting it bronze to match the other fixtures in our house. 

We always give our outdoor furniture a fresh coat of spray paint.  I had my cushions made for a whopping $6!

Yes; I spray painted my trash can!  It looks great and it holds up well.  I know, because it gets a weekly washing. 

I think the toilet levers are the most unusual items I've painted.  I was completely unwilling to pay $30 to replace each lever just because I wanted bronze.  So, I gave it a try.  I've had several people ask where to get them.  Just visit the spray paint isle at Lowes!

Okay, I didn't paint the metal part of this.  I did, however, paint (frost) the glass to hide the cotton balls and swabs that are in there.  It just looks better. 

 



Maybe our cabinet knobs are my best idea yet!  I found that I didn't want to pay $200 + to update knobs when these were almost brand new.  SO...I decided to spray paint those as well.

One picture you won't see are the crawl space vent covers.  I painted all of them this summer because they were discoloring.  They look brand new and I didn't have to pay the brand new price! 

A can of bronze spray paint is $7 and the black is $2.  That means I updated pretty much everything you saw here for $9.  Just a tip, be sure to prime your items.  I don't usually prime baskets and wood, but I do prime all metals and plastics.  My favorite spray paints are Rust-Oleum and Krylon.  They both work very well.  My fetish doesn't stop here!  I love the Fleck Stone paint that makes things look like stone!  Although it's hard to find, one of my old favorites is crackle paint.

I hope this helps inspire some creative ideas and lets you see that you can change anything with spray paint easily.  Just remember to clean and prime your items before you start.  Everything else is child's play. 

Paint or Stain?

My next post won't be until Sunday at best (promise).  Do you want me to write about paint or stain?  I love both and have some fun and quick tips!  I'll also show pictures of my projects!  Leave me a comment and I'll write about the winning choice. 

Top 5 Reasons for Staying in Our Small Home

I'll be the first to tell anyone that there have been days in the past that I have absolutely despised my house.  The number one complaint?  TOO SMALL!  Although, it's really not.  I was just looking at it the wrong way.  If I ever feel that my house is too small, I remind myself of why I'm perfectly happy here.  99% of the time, it fixes any of my blues. 
5. It's easier for me to keep clean.  I do not like spending hours cleaning.
4. I don't buy frivolously, because I don't have room for it.  Translation: I'm "thoughtful" with my spending.
3. If we want to go on vacation, I don't have to teach summer school!
2. We'll be able to help pay for Katie's college tuition, because we can save now.
1. It's keep our family closer together.  We aren't able to spread out too much, so we make the best it and spend quality time together. 

I truly love my house!  It's perfectly suited for us and it makes me happy.  I've heard the saying, "When mom's happy, everyone's happy."  There might some truth in that!

A Sweet Conversation

Tonight I was talking to a friend about small homes.  As it turns out, we both live in small homes.  Our husbands both want bigger homes and so do our kids.  I'll admit, it's hard not to drool over some of my friends' beautiful homes. When we first moved to our new town, our main thought was to buy a home that was on the low end of our budget.  That, of course, meant a small house.  We wanted to know that we could easily afford the other bills we had and still do what we wanted.  It's funny, because we had a five year plan to buy a bigger house. We knew this house was just a stepping stone.  Needless to say, hence the title of my blog, we haven't bought a bigger house!  BUT, I have fallen in love with our little home.  It's probably a lot bigger than a lot of people have.  With all that being said, I love to talk to my friends about the types of things we do to our house to make it feel bigger and to make it a home we love and want to stay in.  There is something that everyone must know....I'm very frugal.  I do not, under any circumstance, like to spend money.  Some might call it cheap; either way, it describes my spending. 

After having a conversation with my friends, Kelly and Sara, I decided to start a blog to let everyone else be part of my cozy home adventures.  My husband positively thinks I'm nuts!  It should be tons of fun!  I'm constantly doing a project in my house and it's usually on the cheap.  I want the high-end look on a hillbilly budget.  So, who's in?  I'd love to share all of the neat secrets I've learned through the years.  My goal is to share pictures, hints, and ideas for everyone else who loves to live on a budget or just to get neat ideas. 

For now, I'm off to be a new aunt!  Baby Bryley is on the way!!!

Kim